Investors ended the week on a cautious note: trading volumes were light and most asset prices were little changed. Sovereign bond yields were largely unchanged in the eurozone, while rising slightly in the US despite most Fed officials who spoke in recent weeks tended to lean towards a pause in the hiking cycle at the September meeting.
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In yesterday’s session, investors traded cautiously as they awaited key economic data later this week (US CPI inflation) and the ECB monetary policy decision on Thursday. The main economic event yesterday was the downward revision of the European Commission’s summer GDP forecasts.
Financial markets closed the week with a sell-off session amid concerns of a new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa. The main concerns are the speed at which this variant can spread and whether it will be immune to the vaccines. Volatility rose and demand for safe assets increased.
The Fed delivered a hawkish pause yesterday, leaving interest rates unchanged but acknowledging a strong US economy. The dot-plot projects a tighter policy through 2024 and 2025, consistent with rates higher for longer. US stock indices fell and US Treasury yields rose on the news, with the yield curve flattening, while the USD appreciated.
In the first session of the week, investors traded with a risk-off mood amid the escalation of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the macroeconomic front there were no relevant data releases.
Investors’ perception that central banks will still need to increase interest rates in this hiking cycle was the main driver in yesterday’s session. The release of the last ECB meeting minutes and the somewhat higher-than-expected September CPI inflation data for the US fueled this expectation.
Friday´s session was clouded by the risk that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East could escalate further causing a sustained rise in oil prices. On the economic side, US University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment fell from 68 to 63 from last month and China exports fell, although by less than expected by the consensus.
In yesterday's session, investors traded with an optimistic mood as they digested the Fed's decision to initiate the tapering of net asset purchases this month and the dovish confirmation that it will keep its policy interest rates unchanged for the foreseeable future.
In the last session of the week, investors traded with a risk-off mood amid fears of a escalating conflict in the Middle East. The VIX index, despite remaining at historically moderate levels, reached its highest level since March and stock indices declined across the globe.
Investors took a breather from the recent buying spree in government bonds during Thursday’s session, pushing yields higher on both sides of the Atlantic. Despite data releases yesterday showing inflation cooling more than expected in the Eurozone and the US, investors were cautious ahead of comments from some central bankers.
Risk appetite extended across markets during the last session of the week, boosted by signs that inflation in the US may have peaked while consumer spending remained strong at the start of Q2, according to the April’s PCE report.
Investors started the week on a downbeat note, with sovereign bond yields falling across the board on both sides of the Atlantic, as expectations grew that major central banks may be done with interest rate hikes. In the Eurozone, however, Lagarde stressed that strong wage growth does not yet allow the ECB to declare victory over inflation.
Financial markets ended the week on a positive note, supported by stronger-than-expected employment data in the US (non-farm payrolls rose by 531k in October while the jobless rate edged down by 0.2 p.p. to 4.6%) and the approval by lawmakers in Washington of the $1.2tn infrastructure spending bill.
In yesterday's session sovereign bonds took center stage once again. Yields extended their declines both in the euro area and in the US, where higher-than-expected weekly jobless claims pointed to a cooling labor market and gave investors further reasons to believe the Federal Reserve is done hiking rates.
In yesterday’s session, investors traded cautiously focusing their attention on the corporate earnings season and being attentive to the monetary policy path ahead and to the geopolitical risks. In this context, yields on sovereign bonds surged in advanced economies, with the 10-treasury getting closer to 5%.
Financial markets started the first session of the week with modest gains, focusing on the release of positive earnings results for Q3 (around 80% of the S&P listed firms have reported better-than-expected results) and bringing the S&P to a new record high. In Washington, Democrats lawmakers stepped closer to a deal on Biden’s fiscal agenda.
In yesterday's session, investors’ sentiment worsened in the euro area, amid inflationary concerns, while in the U.S. investors focused their attention on a potential breakthrough in negotiations between Democrats and Republicans to extend the debt ceiling and on the better than expected ADP employment report.
In yesterday’s session, investors once more weighed the growing tensions in the Middle East and the future path of interest rates. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would proceed carefully with rates, highlighting that the rise in yields in bond markets is helping to tighten financial conditions.
Markets ended the week with a risk-off sentiment, driven by hawkish commentary by some Fed officials about the potential need to readjust policy to deal with the rebound in inflation. In contrast, ECB president Christine Lagarde reiterated prices will stabilize in the euro area in line with the central bank's target.
Comments by central bankers centered the stage at the start of the week in a session with no relevant economic data releases. In the euro area Christine Lagarde reiterated that a rate hike in 2022 is "very unlikely" even if the current inflation spike might be higher and longer than initially expected.